Biologist's Field Guide to Middle Earth
by BeetleJuicex3
Summary: A budding young biologist is researching new plant specimens that have never been seen before on Earth when attacked by a Great Spider. She discovers she has found her way into Mirkwood, and attempts to learn to adapt to the new world she's found herself in. Not a Mary Sue cliché, unique plotline and new adventures.
1. First encounters

My first ever attempt at fanfiction, so be warned. This story is NOT just a romance with some dim Mary Jane that wakes up an elf and instantly becomes wonderful at fighting and finds out Legolas is the love of her life. It will not follow the exact plotline of LOTR with all major events, because personally I hate that most of the fanfiction does, plus the addition of a MJ. OC here actually affects and changes the course of the plot.

I'm trying to learn Sindarin syntax so I can give you guys more than just the basic Sindarin phrases that are used most of the time. If you're a pro at Sindarin translation, please PM me!

LOTR isn't mine, it is Tolkien's, yada yada. I'm privileged to be able to write something using his ideas and words as a basis, and this will be written based off of the books and not the movies. If I slip up and include something from any of the movies that contradicts the books, please correct me.

Summary: A budding young biologist is researching new plant specimens that have never been seen before on Earth when attacked by a Great Spider. She discovers she has found her way into Mirkwood, and attempts to learn to adapt to the new world she's found herself in. Plus some romance and orc butt-kicking. Not a Mary Jane cliché, unique plotline and new adventures.

* * *

"Be careful on your trip, Evie. I know you, no stupid risks, you hear me?" her grandfather admonished, his voice full of concern.

Evelyn beamed at him as she stuffed the remainder of gear into her pack. She packed minimalist, her gear and clothing a fraction of what most trips would require. She needed the extra space, for hopefully soon the plastic bags she packed would be full of specimens.

"I'll be careful, papa." she leaned over and dealt him a kiss on the cheek and then rose to heave on her pack.

She whistled, and a canine stood from where it had been laying on the old wooden floors, and stretched out before trotting over to stand by the woman.

"Nico will watch out for me, won't you boy?" the canine raised an eyebrow at her, tongue lolling out of his massive jaw.

The older man smiled. 'I know he will, Evie. You take right after me, won't go if you can't do it alone. I wish you would take a friend or colleague with you just in case. If this body was up to it I would go with you."

"I'll be fine, I always am." A reassuring smile followed. "Besides, I can't pass this opportunity up. Imagine! Plants that no one has ever seen before in such high quantity! This is unheard of. I need to collect specimens before the rest of the world hears of this. Imagine how they might alter plant communities and soil composition!" Evenlyn finished, excitement radiating out of her usually calm person.

"And I thought your calling was those damn deer-stealers." He shook his head with a smile.

Evelyn's smile faded. "You know how hard it is to study them with how popular they are. There's a lost more work for me as an ecologist, the world has enough ethologists wanting to study wolves."

"I know, darling. You do what you feel like you need to, I've got your back. Now skedaddle, you're wasting daylight."

The woman nodded, her long, braided brown hair bobbing with her head. She headed for the door, Nico already there. She opened the door and slipped out, making her way down the dusty dirt driveway to her truck.

She tossed her pack in the back, before opening the door and allowing Nico to climb in, immediately going to the window for her to roll the window down. She obliged before starting the old thing and heading out, their grazing pastures passing her as she drove off the property.

Her friend, a man she dated back in her college days was an avid backpacker and has alerted her to the plants only but a few days ago. He had stumbled upon them while going bushwacking in Grand Teton National Park, she was the first to know. If only she could get a few specimens, know a bit more about the role they played in the local ecosystems her career could take off.

The Tetons weren't far, only about a 4 hour drive west from her grandfather's ranch. The hours passed quickly before she finally reached the parking lot near the trail she would be taking. From there, the rest was through brush.

Technically, dogs weren't allowed in the park outside of the roads and parking lots. However it was highly unlikely that they would be running into anyone and Niccolo listened exceptionally well. His was the only companionship she ever wanted on trips such as these.

Hoisting her back out of the back of the truck and onto her back, she made for the trailhead. Nico trailed ahead of her, taking in the scents and scenery. His blood was from here, the result of an accidental litter between the wolves she had been studying and the shepherd mix an urban family had ignorantly brought with them while in heat. Having been studying the wolves in question for quite awhile, she was able to get a permit to keep one of the pups, while the rest of the litter were placed in sanctuaries or with local personnel equipped to handle high-content wolfdogs. After that, the rest of her funding had been cut short and Nico was the only link she had to her past research.

They had been on the trail for a day when they got to the point she had been told to head into brush. Checking her GPS unit to make sure she was in the correct location, she started out. When it began to get darker she stopped, setting up her small tent and heating up the pasta she had brought along, before giving Niccolo the kibble she had brought for him, which he sniffed disdainfully. Poor boy was usually used to the game she caught, but unfortunately carrying meat on the trail wasn't a viable option.

It got colder, the night beginning to bite at her exposed flesh and she headed into the tent. Tomorrow, tomorrow was the day she was due to come across the plants Adam had described to her. Muscles aching, she drifted off to sleep.

Morning came, cold but serene, a gentle fog misting over the vegetation surrounded her tent as the sun began to evaporate the water that had collected during the night. She was quickly packed and back on her way, and it was only a few hours before she found her first few plants. She had lived here her entire life, backpacked through these mountains for years and never seen any species like these in person or in field guides. After taking thorough notes on where she found each plant, it's substrate, and the conditions surrounding it she carefully but a few specimens in plastic bags along with some soil. Humming, she didn't notice the large spider descending from the tree above her head.

Creasing the seal on one last bag, she was startled to hear Nico growling, a growl so deep it reverbrated in her chest. Glancing quickly at him, she saw his gaze focused upwards, above her. Looking up herself, she quickly screamed before rolling out of the way as the gigantic spider descended right where she had been standing.

She backed up until her back hit a tree, her foot knocking into something. Stealing a look down she saw the green canvas of her pack, and quickly grasped it, retrieving the dainty winchester rifle she kept with her. Leveling the gun up, she quickly aimed at the head of the giant spider as it approached her. Gasping, she pulled the trigger and the gun pushed against her shoulder as the spider stumbled, emitting a high screech.

She quickly shot another bullet, but her aim missed and the shot whizzed by the spiders thrashing legs. Shaking, she aimed to try again but the spider was already too close, and it's flailing limbs knocked the gun barrel down. Backing away she looked around for anything that might assist her, when a savage snarl tore through the air. Evelyn watched as Nico savagely ripped a leg off from the body of the arachnid, and another brutal screech came from the creature. Stepping forward she quickly retrieved her gun and began bashing the head of the spider with the butt as Nico continued ripped at limbs. Eventually the creature gave a great sigh, and the life fled it's body.

Panting, Evie stood there staring at the corpse before fainting.


	2. Psychotic elven kings

Anxious whining filled the air and Evelyn was brought back into consciousness by the noise and the feeling of Nico pawing at her side. Lifting up her head, she surveyed the land around them. The plants she had seen earlier were now surrounding them completely, accompanied by strange trees that resembled gnarled willows, and the corpse of the large arachnid was still present.

Shakily, she stood up using her gun to steady herself. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit..." the mantra started from her trembling lips as she backed away from the spider that was three times her size. She scooted towards her bag and quickly drew it away from the body as well, throwing it on and keeping her gun in hand.

"Out, how to get out..." she mumbled, pulling out the GPS. No signal. No signal? There were three satellites right in this area telling her where she was only moments before when she had arrived. Quickly she scrolled to her history and looked back the way she believed she had come.

"Okay, I can do this. I'll just leave the same way I came in. Easy-peasy."

She briskly started walking in the direction she had originally come, Nico close to her heels. Yet as they continued walking, it was clear that she wasn't in the area she had previously been hiking. The forest almost seemed to grasp at her, intend to trip her. Roots were snarled into small nooses that came just above the soil, and branches tore at her arms as if trying to forbid her passage. After a few minutes of walking, a root eagerly snagged her foot and her momentum threw Evelyn to ground. A startled cry rang out and was swallowed by the dense air in the forest as she fell, and a grunt followed on impact. Evelyn paused, and silence rang in ears, all sound having ceased since her cry.

Gingerly, Evie pushed herself off the ground, the moist dirt clinging to her hands and knees where she had landed on them. She turned slowly in a full circle, looking for any sign of life or movement. Nothing. The trees were utterly still. Sighing, she turned to continue walking downhill in the direction she had been going. And came face to face with an arrow.

Falling backwards, she fell to the ground and scrambled away from the arrowhead.

"Halt." A voice commanded, the soft-spoken tone belied by the strong command behind the words.

Eyes widening, Evie froze like a deer in headlights. Behind the arrow only a few feet from her was a woman—no, man—with long blonde-white hair. Intense eyes stared down at her with a guarded expression. Astonishingly he had ears that seem to have a mutation that made them taper into points at the top of the cartilage.

"Who are you?"

She watched his mouth form those three words, staring at him curiously. It was only when he repeated the question a second time that she registered it enough to response.

"I'm Evie. Evie Bell."

"Tell me, _Evie_ _Bell," _her name sounded strange coming from his mouth, "What are you doing in my forest?"

Her mind blanked for a moment. "_My forest?_" What did that mean? She was in the Tetons. It was a national park, unowned by private entities that could claim it in this manner.

"Excuse me, your forest? This is a national park, it can't be your forest." She frowned, her brow creasing. "And please stop aiming that thing at me."

She slowly started to bring her gun up before a glance from the man had her rethink her plan.

"I think for now the arrow will stay up, until you clarify upon your purpose here. What is a _national park_?" his velvety voice purred out the last two words.

Evie looked around her spotting Nico. He had his head down low to the ground, and ears back. He seemed displeased and nervous, but not about to attack the man. Who was obviously crazy, possibly a psychopath. She needed to get away and find her way back to the trail.

"It's, er, a large parkland owned by the government. Shouldn't you know that?"

He didn't answer, but lowered his bow and then looked to his left before beginning to speak.

"Take her back to the Halls. I am going to go see if the others bear any news of the creature. And Legolas? _Tir i iell-abonneb_, _na lû e-govaned vîn_."

Evie looked around quickly, and soon enough another white-blonde haired man stepped out from the trees, he nodded his head in the direction of the man I had been talking to before looking towards me.

"_Tolo. _Come."

Evie stood, more than a little wary of the man who had been pointing an arrow at her. Bobbing her head in an acquiescent nod, the woman grabbed her pack and made to go with the other man. Perhaps he would prove more rational, or easier to escape. Nico immediately came to her side when she began walking, a comforting and familiar presence that Evie was grateful for.

As soon as they were out of what Evie deemed hearing range of the other man, she started popping out questions.

"Where are we?" she called up to the silent man walking gracefully in front of her.

"We are in Mirkwood," he said carefully. He didn't turn around to look at her, but kept his gaze riveted in front of him.

"What was that giant arachnid creature I saw earlier?" she asked, hoping to prove her own sanity.

He stopped walking immediately and she almost crashed into him. He turned around, his eyes searching hers intently. Finally he said, "That was a spider."

"A spider? Since when are spiders so large?" She demanded, crossing her arms over one another. "And where are we going, and who was that with the bow and arrow?"

"_I Aran. _That was the king, Thranduil. He has asked me to escort you to the halls." The man named Legolas replied, ignoring her first question and turning around and resuming walking.

"And what does this 'king' Thranduil want with me?"

"…"

She got no reply, and she exasperatedly stared at the man's retreating back. Logically, following him back to this "keep" seemed like a bad idea. Both men were delusional, one thinking himself a king and the other convinced that his friend was a king and that giant spiders were real. Alright, so perhaps the latter might have some validity. But either way, going willingly with someone who had threatened you and claimed to be a king just didn't seem like a good idea.

Hesitantly, she waited for him to get a bit farther ahead before inching off to the side and beginning to quietly but quickly walk in a direction she thought was away from both men.

She had made it about ten feet when she heard him call back "There are more spiders that way."

Evie stiffened before finally turning to continue following Legolas. She ran up to him, Nico bounding at her feet.

"I want answers." She said, her voice resolute and sharp, demanding a response from him.

"Patience," he admonished softly, and she subdued the words rising in her throat with a sigh.

Eventually they came upon a river with a narrow white stone bridge stretching out across it. From there was a small platform, with the outer wall of a building built into the other side of the walls closing in the river.

"_Alae, _Thranduil's Halls, my lady." Legolas murmured quietly as way of introduction.

They crossed the bridge and as they approached the doors, the doors opened slowly. The insides of the entrance hall were narrow and varied between regal architecture and stone walls, like caves. They continued on for a few moments before the cave-hall opened up into a huge chamber, stalactites and stalagmites jutting out at random areas to support rock pathways that lacked handrails. Dim yellow lighting gave the chamber an eerie but beautiful glow, and the slender, graceful people walking the pathways made the viewing seem that more surreal. She halted, completely confounded by what her eyes were seeing.

She stopped walking and pinched herself hard. Yep, she was awake. So perhaps she was just crazy? Seeing things that weren't there seemed more plausible than the actuality of the Tetons containing a cave like this without it being known to her.

"Do you see this Nico?" she asked, chewing her lip and looking towards her canine companion.

Niccolo looked at her, his canine demeanor very somber. He almost seemed to be contemplating a response. Evie often would have liked to believe he was intelligent and would speak to her if he could, but this time he just seemed so much more… sapient. Maybe she was actually going crazy.

"Your 'Nico' reminds me of a hunting hound one of our own had once. A steed named Huan_._ He was of great intelligence." Legolas' voice said, cutting through her internal turmoil.

She glanced up at him. "Steed?" She queried. "How can a hound be a steed?"

He smiled. "Huan was many things other dogs were not. Walk with me, and I shall tell you about him until _I Aran _returns."

She nodded and they began walking again, side by side.

"Huan was a great wolfhound, one of the hunting dogs of Oromë the Hunter. He had been giving special talents by the _Valar, _and was able to go without sleep or rest indefinitely. He was permitted speech three times before his death, which had been prophesied to be at the hand of the greatest wolf to live." Legolas began, his voice melodic with accent that she couldn't place.

Legolas continued to tell her the tale of Huan and how he had joined with a shapeshifter and a beautiful maiden to hunt a great werewolf, Carcharoth. The more he talked the surer Evie was that she was dreaming. None of this was real. She didn't notice that her breathing had sped up considerably until Legolas' face was inches from her own, his hands holding her steady in a vice grip on her upper arms.

"Evie, daughter of Bell, what is wrong? _Av-'osto_." He said, holding her as she trembled gasping for air.

"N-not real." She managed to tell him, squeezing her eyes shut.

He sighed, before leading her over to a bench-like outcrop and helping her sit. Nico anxiously bumped his nose into her hand and whined.

Eventually her breathing calmed down and she was opened her eyes. She was still in the cavern. She closed her eyes again, counted to ten, and opened them.

Yep, still in the cavern. But now the first man who had threatened her, Thranduil, was approaching her.

She gulped nervously and inched backwards, only to hit the cavern wall that the bench was built into. She looked quickly towards Legolas, pleading with her eyes to him to do something.

Legolas rose from the bench and approached Thranduil, exchanging fluent words in that dialect that seemed so foreign. Eventually Thranduil approached her while Legolas walked away without looking back.

"Legolas is convinced that you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." The supposed king intoned in a grave voice. "But if I am to hear that you were involved in Gollum's escape, I will act accordingly. On the assumption that you were indeed just passing through, I would like to know why you chose such a dangerous route. What brought you to Mirkwood?"

"I…" she searched for words. "I came for the plants." She finally said.

Thranduil raised one elegant eyebrow.

"The plants! They were unknown species and I needed to discover them!" she cried desperately, trying to prove innocence for something she didn't understand in the slightest.

"You were intending to steal herbs from elves?" he asked, his tone frigid.

"No!" she shouted quickly in denial, adrenaline pumping through her blood. "They were in the park, they were free to take…" she trailed off, thinking.

"Elves aren't real." She said aloud, to both herself and the man who claimed to be a king.

"Not real, Lady Bell? Have you been living in a Hobbit-hole your entire life?" the serious tone questioned, almost sarcastically.

"A hobbit..? Damn this, I need to wake up!" she said frantically and a small sob escaped her.

"You think you are dreaming?" he questioned, suddenly much closer to her than before and looking her in the eyes.

"I have to be," said Evie quietly, her tone more composed.

"Where do you hail from?" he asked, tilting his head slightly while looking at her.

"Wisconsin. But this can't be in Wisconsin."

"Indeed, this is not 'Wisconsin', Lady Bell. I cannot say I have ever heard of such a place." He told her, backing away slightly.

"It seems to me that something is amiss, but you are not the first unusual occurrence of the day. A creature we were sworn to guard, Gollum, has escaped. I will be sending representatives to tell the Council in Rivendell of this. You will go with them, the Council should know of your… predicament. They may have more knowledge than I." Thranduil said gravely. "Until then, _gi nathlam hí._"

"Gee nathlamb hee?" she repeated back dumbly.

"Close," he responded with a small, closed-mouth smile. "It is Sindarin for 'You are welcome here.'"

* * *

Okay, so I started researching more into Sindarin syntax, and as I only know one language and have never tried learning another language I'll probably end up butchering it. I'll explain how I came up with phrases at the end of each chapter, and if any aspiring linguists want to correct me, please do! If I don't explain it and it has an asterisk down here, it means I found it in a phrase dictionary and might not have double-checked the syntax as it's extremely difficult for me.

_Tir i iell abonneb_ = "Watch the human girl."  
watch(verb) = _tir  
_the(article) = _i  
_human(noun) = _abonnen_ (adjective changes –_en_ to –_eb_) = _abonneb  
_girl(noun) = _iell_

_Na lû e-govaned vîn_* = To the time of our meeting (until we next meet)

_Tolo = _Come!

_I Aran _= The King

_Alae = _Behold

_Av-'osto_* = Do not fear

_Gi nathlam hí_* = You are welcome here

**Also, any chance anyone is interested in being a beta reader for me?**


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